CAPE CORAL, Fla. >> It wasn’t the Grinch who stole Christmas. It was a man who screamed “there’s no Santa Claus” over and over during a recent holiday festival in Florida.

A southwest Florida woman shared cellphone footage with Fort Myers television station NBC-2 of the man yelling during the Cape Coral Festival of Lights on Saturday night.

Cape Coral police told the station that officers were at the event but couldn’t do anything because the man was exercising his freedom of speech. They added they could have intervened had he used a voice enhancer such as a megaphone, or started a riot.

Cindy Menkes of Cape Coral says it’s about decency and said she’s sad that “the magic of this time of year” was taken away from some children.